Sun Chief

The Autobiography of a Hopi Indian (Second Edition)

Talayesva Don C., Simmons Leo W., Sakiestewa Gilbert Matthew, Hine Robert V.

First published in 1942, "Sun Chief" is the autobiography of Hopi Chief Don C. Talayesva and offers a unique insider view on Hopi society. In a new Foreword, Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert situates the book within contemporary Hopi studies, exploring how scholars have used the book since its publication more than seventy years ago.

About the Author

Don C. Talayesva (1890-1985) spent the first nine years of his life raised in the village of Old Oraibi, followed by nearly ten years of training at government schools before returning home.

Leo W. Simmons was a Yale anthropologist who recorded Talayesva's autobiography.

Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert is assistant professor of American Indian studies and history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and enrolled with the Hopi tribe.

Reviews

"'Sun Chief' is a seminal contribution to Hopi studies. It has and continues to inform and inspire today's emerging Hopi scholars who can expand on its relevancy to critical issues and events in contemporary Hopi society. More importantly, Gilbert points out that the field will benefit from 'a new direction' in the developing scholarship that promises to forefront the Hopi view, experience and voice" – Sheilah Nicholas (Hopi), University of Arizona

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